Gaurav Bhatia resigns from Sotheby's India MD a month after Me Too allegations
New Delhi, Jan 5: Gaurav Bhatia has resigned as Sotheby's India MD, nearly a month after he went on a leave of absence following allegations of sexual misconduct, the auction house said on Saturday.
Bhatia, who was the South Asia operations head and the driving force behind Boundless: India , Sotheby's maiden auction in the country, put in his papers on December 20, 2018.
Sotheby's Managing Director of India, Gaurav Bhatia, resigned on December 20th, 2018 after two years with the company, during which time he launched the inaugural Mumbai auction. We appreciate and thank him for his service, the auction house told PTI.
Bhatia, in a statement, said he had decided to move on after two successful years with the auction house.
After two enriching years and the stellar opportunity to launch Sotheby's inaugural auction in Mumbai, I have decided to move on. It has been a pleasure working with the great team we have built, and I will enjoy watching them continue to build Sotheby's future in India. I wish them the very best," he said.
According to the anonymous allegations against Bhatia that surfaced on social media, he touched the victims' inappropriately and forcibly tried to kiss them.
Bhatia was among the big names that were called out in the Me Too movement in the Indian art world, besides leading artists like Jatin Das, Riyas Komu and most recently Subodh Gupta.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
